Midnight Conversation
by Hoshiko
Summary: Mitsuru's been kicked out of his room, and runs into Shun who has a few words to say.


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**Midnight Conversation*****  
  
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A/N: * For lack of a better title...  
  
Anyhoo...this is for and because of **YOU**, Morgan. For all those late night phone calls and that night   
at that hotel in Newport (O.o;;)...and for being such a wonderful friend. (And for being my   
real-life Shun! ^_^)

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Leaning against the wall outside his dorm room, Mitsuru couldn't help but think that being locked out by his roommate was not something that happened every day. In his opinion, it was an experience that he could have done perfectly well without.  
  
Playing with a loose thread on his sleeve, he didn't hear the door next to him open, nor did he notice the worried eyes on him until he heard his name spoken.  
  
"Mitsuru-sempai?"  
  
Looking up, Mitsuru smiled at the concerned expression on Shun's face.  
  
"Hey Shun. Shouldn't you be asleep? It's pretty late."  
  
Frowning, Shun glanced over his shoulder into his own room for a moment before slipping out and closing the door behind him quietly. Tilting his head to the side as the younger boy sank down gracefully next to him, Mitsuru gave up on the loose thread for the time being.  
  
"Suka's having one of his crises right now. It's best to leave him alone at a time like this." Shun murmured, staring at his hands clasped loosely in his lap.  
  
"Ah. What is it this time?" Mitsuru inquired, stifling a grin.  
  
Shun snorted gently, hair slipping over one shoulder as he shook his head.  
  
"I'm not sure exactly. Could be anything. You know Suka; always making things more complicated than they need to be."  
  
"Hmm."  
  
Stretching his legs out before him to keep them from cramping up, Mitsuru missed the look Shun gave him.  
  
"What about you, Mitsuru-sempai? Why are you sitting out in the hall?"  
  
"No reason, really." Mitsuru replied, realizing that he'd never noticed the distinct pattern in the hallway carpeting before.  
  
"Really? But it's late like you said, Mitsuru-sempai. You have that test in social sciences tomorrow morning, don't you? You should get some sleep."  
  
If it had been anyone else - say Shinobu, for example - Mitsuru might have been suspicious at those words, so innocently spoken. But seeing as how it was Shun, he had no reason to be.  
  
"In a little bit. I just needed some time to think…clear some of the clutter that's in my head."_  
  
_They sat in companionable for several minutes, Shun lacing and interlacing his fingers in a child's game, Mitsuru tracing the patterns in the carpet with his eyes.  
  
"Mitsuru-sempai…is everything okay? You don't seem very happy right now."  
  
Wincing inwardly at Shun's words, Mitsuru forced himself to meet the younger boy's eyes.  
  
"It's nothing, Shun. Really. I just needed to think a bit, that's all."  
  
"About what?"  
  
Violet eyes narrowed slightly, the only visible sign of Mitsuru's annoyance. He knew, on some inner level that taking his frustration out on Shun would be both unfair and wrong. He knew he shouldn't, but damned if the younger boy wasn't testing his patience.  
  
"Nothing."  
  
It was said a little sharper than he'd wanted, but maybe it would be enough to let Shun know he wasn't in a mood to talk about what was bothering him. For a moment, he thought it worked, and then…  
  
"Suka does the same thing. I guess he thinks that if he doesn't say it out loud that it won't be as real…like keeping whatever it is in his head means he won't have to deal with it. I think it's silly."  
  
"Do you."  
  
"Yeah. I mean, it's not like the problem's going to go away, you know. And maybe talking about it will make it less of a problem. The person you talk to might even know a way to help you."

"Shun...do you ever feel like you don't know someone? I mean_ really _know them?"  
  
"Most of the time," Shun answered, smiling sadly, "But no one ever knows everything there is to know about someone else. You could talk forever and still not know all there is to a person...it's what makes knowing them so special. You spend what time you have getting to know them, and you never have to worry about running out of things to talk about."  
  
"Hmm."  
  
Mitsuru gave Shun a thoughtful look, a small smile curving his lips.  
  
"But what if someone doesn't want you to know them?"  
  
Frowning, Shun stared at his hands, fingers tangled together.  
  
"What do you mean, Mitsuru-sempai?"  
  
Sighing, Mitsuru shook his head, not quite certain of what he was doing. Talking about things was supposed to make them easier, not harder. Maybe talking to Shun had been a mistake after all - despite the fact the younger boy seemed to want to help.  
  
"It's nothing, Shun. Never mind."  
  
As silence hung between them, Mitsuru was sure Shun had given up on the matter, when he spoke up again.  
  
"When I was younger, I had a friend like that. He always acted so…I don't know, superior, I guess, and he never let any of us forget it. He came from a wealthy family, and he was very smart. Most of our class assumed he didn't want anything to do with us because he thought he was so much better than we were, but that wasn't it at all."  
  
Blinking as he realized Shun was waiting for some kind of prompting from him, Mitsuru rolled his eyes and cleared his throat.  
  
"So what was it, Shun?"  
  
Grinning at him, Shun closed his eyes, tilting his head to one side.  
  
"It took me a while to figure it out, he was so good at keeping others away, you see. I noticed the way he'd watch the rest of us during recess - not in a creepy way, just kind of…sad, I guess. Like all he wanted was someone to play with. For someone to be his friend. One day he said something mean to a girl in our class, and she ran away crying."  
  
Mitsuru was having trouble seeing how Shun's story was helping, but he kept quiet, waiting to hear the rest of it.  
_  
_"Everyone was mad at him, of course. They were giving him dirty looks and calling him names - not really caring if he heard them or not - but I knew he did. And I wondered why he did it. I wanted to know why he acted so mean all the time - almost like he was trying to push everyone away. No one else cared though, because by then they were all positive he was a jerk."  
  
"Shun…are you sure this story of yours…" Mitsuru trailed off as Shun turned to him and gave him a _look.  
  
_"Of course I am, Mitsuru-sempai. I'm not finished yet." Shun said, smiling brightly.  
  
Nodding weakly, Mitsuru tried to puzzle out why Shun's look had so effectively silenced him. There was only one other person who had that sort of effect on him, and he…  
  
"After school that day I walked up to him and asked him."  
  
Recognizing his cue, Mitsuru forced a smile.  
  
"What did he say, Shun?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
It took a moment for Shun's response to register, and when it did, Mitsuru felt nowhere near any type of enlightenment. Aside from the fact that Shun had the potential to be as cryptically annoying as certain other people he knew.  
  
"What?"  
  
"He didn't say anything, Mitsuru-sempai. He just looked at me, like I was crazy for asking - but he had this _look_ in his eyes. Like he was scared of something."

"Scared? Of what?" 

Although he couldn't see it, so engrossed was he with the opposite wall, Mitsuru could hear the smile in Shun's voice.

"Well, lots of things, really. He was scared that no one would like him for who he was, he was scared that the others would make fun of him…and then there were a million other little things he was scared of too. What it all came down to in the end was that he was just scared that he wouldn't measure up to our standards… but for us, it was enough that he was _there_. We didn't care about who he was, or who he was supposed to be."

Glancing at Shun, Mitsuru was startled to find himself staring into the younger boy's eyes. He frowned as he saw something in them that sent a shiver down his spine at the utter familiarity of it.

He'd seen that look somewhere before, he was positive of that. Shun was trying to tell him something, but damned if he knew what it was. It was important, he knew that much.

"Shun I – "

A muffled thud followed moments later by muttered swearing coming from behind the closed door of Shun's room cut Mitsuru off mid-sentence.

Scrambling to his feet, Shun shot Mitsuru an apologetic look.

"Sounds like Suka needs a little help."

Hiding his smile behind an upraised hand, Mitsuru nodded, his eyes filled with amusement as the swearing rose in volume.

"Aa."

Shaking his head, Shun took a step towards his door and stopped, his hand resting on the doorknob, back turned to Mitsuru.

"Mitsuru-sempai…"

"Shun?"

"Good night, Mitsuru-sempai."

"Good night Shun."

Flashing Mitsuru a bright smile, Shun turned the doorknob and entered his room. The stream of swearing cut off almost instantly, bringing a slight smile to Mitsuru's face. 

Although he was unable to make out what Shun was saying, he did catch the soothing tone of his voice…and the feeling behind the words.

Frowning, he forced his attention away from the rise and fall of voices. Whatever went on behind that door wasn't his problem right then. He had enough of his own at the moment.

"_'…but for us, it was enough that he was _there_. We didn't care about who he was, or who he was supposed to be.'_"

Getting to his feet, Mitsuru ran a hand through his hair to straighten it, and took a step towards his room, hand poised to knock on the door.

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End file.
